The Lost World

(1912)

I have wrought my simple plan, If I give one hour of joy, to the boy who's half a man, Or the man who's half a boy.

This is the story of an expedition to a plateau in the Amazon basin of South America where prehistoric animals (dinosaurs and other extinct creatures) still survive. It was originally published serially in the popular Strand Magazine and illustrated by New-Zealand-born artist Harry Rountree during the months of April–November 1912. The character of Professor Challenger was introduced in this book. The novel also describes a war between indigenous people and a vicious tribe of ape-like creatures.

In this classic tale by the creator of Sherlock Holmes, a scientific expedition headed by the larger than life Professor Challenger, sets out to explore a plateau in South America that remains frozen in time from the days when dinosaurs roamed the earth. Seemingly impossible to penetrate, this lost world holds great danger for the expedition team, from fiendish ape-men to terrifying prehistoric creatures. A fascinating tale of adventure and discovery, The Lost World will excite the imagination as Doyle takes the reader back through time.

It's pretty intriguing that people could think of these things. For all we know, there are probably dinosaurs we dont know about in the deep abyss. Anyway, this isnt as much of a masterpiece as Sherlock Holmes but it is definitely worth the read. :thumbs_up :thumbs_up

Posted By HannibalBarca at Thu 12 Apr 2007, 12:09 AM in The Lost World || 0 Replies

Actually, dairmuid, many scientists think now that dinosaurs were actually warm blooded, because of thier size it would have been incrediably difficult forthem to function at all if they had to sit in the sun all day. I think I will look into that more in depth.

Posted By Shaye at Tue 24 May 2005, 10:07 PM in The Lost World || 0 Replies

I think Sam of the 15 Mar 2003 post must be fairly young, otherwise hewould have known that the book predates the movie(s) by a goodly numberof years. Certainly the movie phrase was a reference to the book.

Posted By pablito at Sun 27 Jul 2003, 5:00 AM in The Lost World || 1 Reply

I think sam from march 15th had it correct actually. I believe he was referring to Crichtons book "Lost World" which is almost certainly aptly named in homage to Doyle's novel. In fact, if you read Crichtons take, it is a very similiar idea.

Posted By dane at Tue 24 May 2005, 10:07 PM in The Lost World || 0 Replies

I just finished reading "The Lost World". I am sorry to say that one of the reasons I wanted to read it was because of the LostWorld.net website. After reading the story (which I thought was excellent, although a little heavy-handed when it came to English colonization) I am completely convinced that "The Lost World" was complete fiction. It seemed more a commentary of humankind than an account of a prehistoric world surviving into modern times. The descriptions of dinosaurs which some feel are too complete to be untrue were in many ways scientifically impossible (for example, the dinosaurs in the story are for the most part nocturnal--dinosaurs were cold blooded, and scientist today feel that they would only function in the hot daylight). If anything, the only good to come out of these wack-job theories is that they interested me in a book I might not have read otherwise. Thanks, crack pots!

Posted By Unregistered at Thu 6 Feb 2003, 6:00 AM in The Lost World || 6 Replies

I found this book to be intriguing. Once I started it was hard to put it aside. The writing is imaginative an draws the reader into the plot very quickly. It was also interesting to see the views of a generation long gone.

Posted By Mina at Tue 24 May 2005, 10:03 PM in The Lost World || 0 Replies